Hatcher says he owes rookie an apology

IRVING – It’s hard to knock defensive tackle Jason Hatcher after he’s recorded sacks in each of the Dallas Cowboys’ first three games, but it was his roughing-the-passer penalty that robbed rookie safety J.J. Wilcox of his first interception and a nice return.

After the Cowboys’ 31-7 pounding of the Rams, Hatcher had forgotten all about the penalty until he was reminded of the infraction by a few reporters. Wilcox picked off a Sam Bradford pass and returned it 23 yards to the Dallas 30 with 6:06 left in the third quarter.

“I will have to tell him I’m sorry about that,” Hatcher said. “I forgot about that. That was a dumb penalty on my half. I’ll man up and say that. But I’m not going to slow down what I do, man. I’m going to keep being relentless, get to the quarterback. It was just one of those bad calls, man. Hopefully, he will get a few more. He’s a playmaker, man. Happy to have him back there.”